Page 10 - South Korea

PM Modi expresses deep anguish over South Korea's Halloween stampede

The stampede took place on Saturday night and led to death of at least 26 foreign nationals from 14 countries when crowd celebrating Halloween swelled in narrow alleys of Seoul's nightlife district

Halloween horror: Death toll in South Korean stampede rises to 151

A mass of mostly young people celebrating Halloween in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 151 people and injuring 82 others in South Korea's worst disaster in years. Emergency workers and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying in the streets after the crush in the capital's nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday night. Those killed or hurt were mostly teens and people in their 20s, according to Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department. The dead included 19 foreigners, he said, whose nationalities weren't immediately released. The death toll could rise further as 19 of those injured were in critical condition. An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country's biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began and strict rules on gatherings were enforced. The South Korean government eased COVID-19 restrictions in recent months and this was the first big chance t

Ready to provide any support, US on S Korea stampede as death toll rises

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that reports of the Seoul stampede are heartbreaking and that Washington is ready to provide the Republic of Korea with any support it needs

59 dead, over 150 injured after Halloween crowd surge in Seoul: Official

At least 59 people were killed and 150 more were injured after being crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital Seoul, South Korean officials said. Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could grow as emergency workers were continuing to transport the injured to hospitals across Seoul following the stampede in the leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night. Choi said 13 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 were still on the streets. Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

The UK or Korea: What is the ideal benchmark for the size of India's govts?

There must be a warning in the fact that some of the most problem-ridden middle-income economies have big govts, big deficits, high levels of debt and large-scale corruption, writes T N Ninan

N Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea as Seoul wraps up military drill

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Friday, Seoul officials said, as its rival South Korea was wrapping up an annual military drill that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missile flew toward North Korea's eastern waters but gave no further details including how far the weapon flew. The launch, the latest in a series of weapons tests by North Korea in recent weeks, came on the final day of South Korea's annual 12-day Hoguk field exercises, which also involved an unspecified number of US troops this year. The South Korean and US air forces plan to conduct a large-scale training next week. North Korea sees such regular drills by Seoul and Washington as practice for launching an attack on the North, though the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature. Friday's launch came four days after the rival Koreas exchanged warning shots along their disputed western sea boundary, a scene of past ..

US vows full range of military defence of allies against North Korea

The United States will make full use of its military capabilities, including nuclear, conventional and missile defense," to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations. Sherman said North Korea's repeated firings of ballistic missiles and artillery in recent weeks were provocative military actions. North Korea has described them as practice runs for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. This is deeply irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing, Sherman said in talks in Tokyo with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyundong. The two officials met ahead of a three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday. It would be the second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signaling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and Sout

S Korea, US, Japan hold talks amid speculation on N Korea nuke test

Senior diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan held high-level talks on Wednesday on regional and global security issues amid concerns over the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test

US vows full military defence of allies against North Korea: Wendy Sherman

The United States will make full use of its military capabilities, including nuclear, conventional and missile defence," to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Tuesday as she warned North Korea against escalating its provocations. Sherman said North Korea's repeated firings of ballistic missiles and artillery in recent weeks were provocative military actions. North Korea has described them as practice runs for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. This is deeply irresponsible, dangerous, and destabilizing, Sherman said in talks in Tokyo with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyungdong. The two officials met ahead of a three-way meeting with their Japanese counterpart on Wednesday. It will be second in-person meeting of the three officials since conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May, signalling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and South ...

South Korea, Arab nations to hold new round of FTA talks next week

Various issues will be on the table during the upcoming meeting, including goods and services trading, country of origin, digital trade and intellectual property rights, the ministry said

Kakao's co-CEO resigns over massive service disruption mobile messenger

A top executive of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions provider Kakao stepped down to take responsibility for the recent disruption of the company's mobile messenger KakaoTalk

S Korean music sensation BTS' Jin to release first solo single on Oct 28

Singer Jin, a member of the South Korean music sensation BTS, will release his first solo song "The Astronaut" on October 28. BTS management agency BigHit Music made the announcement on the fan community forum Weverse on Tuesday night, a day after the company said the group is looking forward to carrying out their mandatory military service with oldest member Jin initiating the process by the month end. "BTS member Jin's first official solo single, 'The Astronaut,' will be released on October 28, 2022. Since it's a song made with so much love toward the fans, we hope 'The Astronaut' can be a gift to all of you," the agency said in a statement. Jin, who turns 30 in December, will begin the enlistment formalities once commitments related to his solo album release are complete. In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18-28 are required to serve in the military for about two years. All BTS members had been allowed to put off starting their military service until they turned 30. "We a

N Korea fires artillery shells near border a day after S Korea began drills

North Korea fired artillery shells near its sea border with South Korea late Tuesday, a day after the South began annual military drills to better deal with North Korean provocations. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement early Wednesday that North Korea fired about 100 shells off its west coast and 150 rounds off its east coast. It said the South Korean military broadcast messages several times asking North Korea to stop the firing, but there were no reports of violence between the rivals. South Korea's military said the shells didn't land in South Korean territorial waters but fell inside maritime buffer zones the two Koreas established under a 2018 inter-Korean agreement aimed at reducing front-line animosities. It's the second time North Korea has fired shells into the buffer zones since last Friday, when it shot hundreds of shells there in its most significant direct violation of the 2018 agreement. South Korea's military said North Korea must halt provocatio

K-Pop sensation BTS to give what could be last concert of band for years

South Korean boy band BTS will perform together on Saturday for the first time since the shocking announcement in June that the band would take an indefinite hiatus

PKL 9 to help me prepare for Asian Games selection: S Korea's Woosan Ko

South Korean defender Woosan KO is appearing in the Pro Kabaddi League for the first time in his career. The player says the training sessions with the team will help him prepare for selection trials

North Korea fires more artillery into maritime buffer zones: South Korea

South Korea's military says it detected North Korea additionally firing possibly hundreds of artillery rounds into maritime buffer zones between the rivals, further raising animosities triggered by a recent barrage of weapons tests. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the North firing around 80 rounds of artillery into waters near their eastern sea border from around 5.p.m. Friday. It said it also detected firing sounds and sighted splashes that were possibly caused by the firing of around 200 artillery rounds in waters near the western sea boundary from around 5:20 p.m. It said the shells fell inside maritime buffer zones the two Koreas established under a 2018 inter-Korean agreement on reducing tensions. The artillery firings came hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile and 170 rounds of artillery shells early Friday, extending a highly provocative run in weapons demonstrations that have been accompanied by threats of nuclear conflict against Seoul and

N Korea fires another missile, 170 rounds of shells over S Korean border

North Korea early on Friday fired an additional ballistic missile and 170 rounds of artillery shells toward the sea and flew warplanes near the tense border with South Korea, further raising animosities triggered by the North's recent barrage of weapons tests. The North Korean moves suggest it is reviving an old playbook of stoking fears of war with provocative weapons tests before it seeks to win greater concessions from its rivals. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the short-range missile lifted off from the North's capital region at 1:49 am Friday (1649 GMT Thursday; 12:49 p.m. EDT Thursday) and flew toward its eastern waters. It was North Korea's 15th missile launch since it resumed its testing activities on September 25. North Korea said Monday its recent missile tests were simulations of nuclear strikes on South Korean and US targets in response to their dangerous" military exercises involving a US aircraft carrier. After the latest missile test, North

North Korea flies warplanes near border after missile launches: S.Korea

South Korea says North Korea has flown warplanes near the rivals' border, prompting South Korea to scramble fighter jets. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the North Korean planes flew as close as 12 kilometers (7 miles) north of the inter-Korean border between late Thursday and early Friday. It's a highly unusual incident, and it comes amid heightened tensions between the rivals over North Korea's barrage of missile tests in recent days. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it responded by scrambling F-35 jets and other warplanes. There were no reports of clashes between the rivals.

Sitharaman holds talks with Saudi, Netherlands, S Korea, Japan counterparts

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Japan, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and South Korea as part of the Indian efforts to strengthen its economic ties with major countries of the world. Being held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the finance minister, in addition to bilateral issues, discussed with them some of the major economic challenges being faced by the world, prominently the energy crisis and inflation in the wake of the Ukrainian war, debt sustainability, and climate change. India's emergence as a bright spot during the current global downturn and some of its successful policies such as digitisation and direct cash transfer were appreciated by her counterparts. The finance minister used the occasion to get feedback from these leaders as to what role India could play next year as the chair of the G-20 group of countries. During her meeting

Venezuela, South Korea, Afghanistan lose vote for UN rights body

Venezuela, South Korea and Afghanistan lost contested races for seats on the top UN human rights body in Tuesday by the General Assembly, which faced criticism for electing countries like Vietnam and Sudan, which have been accused of having abysmal human rights records. The 193-member assembly voted by secret ballot to fill 14 seats on the 47-member Human Rights Council. Seats are allocated to regions to ensure geographical representation, a rule that has regularly led to many regions putting forward uncontested slates as Africa, Eastern Europe and Western nations did this year. Human rights groups have long criticised this practice, saying it denies UN member nations any choice of countries on the council and virtually guarantees seats for some countries with poor rights records. In this year's election, the most hotly watched race was in the Latin America and Caribbean regional group, where Chile, Costa Rica and Venezuela were vying for two seats. The result saw Chile get 144 ...